Chapter 410: Stepping Stone

Chapter 410 -191: Stepping Stone

In Naiman County, west of Home County.

The Gubao Map Desert, whose national 4A scenic area designation had just been revoked, stretched 35 kilometers from east to west and about 30 kilometers from north to south. With a total area of roughly 1,000 square kilometers (1.5 million mu), it was the largest shifting desert in the Northeast Region.

A convoy of pickup trucks traveled north from the Eastern Film and Television City, located in the northern part of Naiman County. After driving about two kilometers northwest along a rural road, they arrived at a large construction site built from shipping container homes.

The desert reclamation team, which had originally been sent to the Hunshandake Desert for a United Mining Company project, had returned to Zhelimu City last month. However, instead of returning to the main base in Home County, they came here to Naiman County.

These container homes had been brought over from the Tamin Chagan Base.

The desert reclamation team had nearly doubled in size. In August, the Monan Branch ordered another large batch of construction equipment from Sany Heavy Industry, increasing the team’s monthly reclamation area to 150,000-200,000 mu.

As Jiang Miao stepped out of the vehicle, he was greeted by a vast expanse of vibrant green.

After receiving approval in August, the Monan Branch had mobilized its idle personnel and resources. They took advantage of the flat, sandy terrain and degraded grasslands here to gradually plant 400,000 mu of soybeans.

Although these soybean fields would certainly not produce a harvest this year, they would at least have two months to grow. The plot before them was part of the batch planted in late August, and it had now been growing for nearly two months.

Stepping out of the vehicle, Jiang Miao raised a pair of binoculars to the endless soybean prairie. “What’s the situation here?”

Liu Zhiben explained, “The area we’re currently developing isn’t actually the core of the Gubao Map Desert. It’s part of the peripheral degraded grasslands or semi-desertified sandy land.”

As they walked to the office area of the newly-named Mulan Base, Jiang Miao spotted a massive topographical sand table. Patches of artificial turf on the model simulated the reclaimed soybean fields.

On the sand table, an area cordoned off with nails and red thread represented the entire Mulan Hunting Ground area contracted by Hailufeng Company.

A bulletin board to one side of the model displayed a brief introduction to the contracted area.

Jiang Miao glanced over and saw that the Mulan Hunting Ground was enormous, covering an area of nearly 3 million mu—one-tenth the size of the entire Kerchin Desert contract area.

“The Mulan Hunting Ground contract area isn’t actually that large,” Liu Zhiben continued. “To the west of Mulan Hunting Ground, just across the Old Haha River near Red Mountain City, there’s a continuous stretch of desert and sandy land covering 9 million mu. The vast majority of that is within our contract area.”

The entire Kerchin Desert contract area could be divided into two main units: the Xinan desert and sandy land region, and the Northeast degraded grassland region.

The Xinan desert and sandy land region could be further subdivided into:

The Tamin Chagan Desert and its adjoining sandy lands, totaling 500,000 mu.

The Gubao Map Desert and its adjoining sandy lands and degraded grasslands, totaling 3 million mu.

The desert and sandy lands south of the Xilamuren River, totaling 9 million mu.

The desert and sandy lands north of the Xilamuren River, totaling 3 million mu.

These were the areas Hailufeng Company was prioritizing for development, because these sandy lands and deserts were all contiguous, unlike the scattered areas in the northeastern part of the Kerchin Desert.

“These soybeans are almost ready to be harvested for fodder.”

Liu Zhiben nodded. “Yes. Of the 400,000 mu of soybeans planted here at the Mulan Hunting Ground, the earliest batch can be harvested in about ten more days. However, we estimate we can only harvest half. Once it starts snowing, the soybean plants that have only grown for a month will have to be left to wither in the fields.”

Jiang Miao raised his binoculars again. In the distance, he could see a section where the soybean plants were only 40 to 60 centimeters tall. These were clearly the ones with an insufficient growth period.

Jiang Miao thought for a moment. “Alright, here’s what we’ll do. The soybean plants that aren’t suitable for large-scale mechanical harvesting? Sell them to the local livestock farmers. Let them come harvest it themselves so it doesn’t go to waste. A price of 500 yuan per mu should be fine.”

“Really? That could work.” Liu Zhiben nodded.

‘After all,’ he thought, ‘in about ten days, even the later-planted batch of soybeans would probably reach a height of 50 to 60 centimeters. Although they wouldn’t have formed pods, the protein content of the leaves and stems wouldn’t be low. Harvesting 1.5 to 1.8 tons of fresh fodder per mu shouldn’t be a problem.’

Soybean plants are similar to alfalfa. Even with the price of Purple Alfalfa Hay plummeting on the current market, the wholesale price was still around 2,000 yuan per ton, and high-quality fresh Purple Alfalfa fodder cost 600 yuan per ton.

Jiang Miao’s suggestion to have the local farmers harvest it themselves was intended to save on labor, fuel, and transportation costs.

This price was about half of what it would cost to buy silage or hay from external suppliers, but the farmers would need to arrange for their own harvesters and transport vehicles.

Of the 400,000 mu of soybean fields at the Mulan Hunting Ground, about 200,000 mu wouldn’t meet the standard for large-scale mechanized harvesting. At 500 yuan per mu, that would bring in around 100 million yuan.

The nearby Zhelimu City and Red Mountain City had a combined livestock population of nearly 50 million cattle and sheep. The amount of fodder they consumed over a single winter was staggering, so there was no question about their ability to absorb the fodder from 200,000 mu of soybeans.

This was especially true for the large-scale livestock operations. Their own end-of-autumn hay and silage would certainly not be enough, and they would need to purchase from external sources.

As soon as the Monan Branch made the announcement, the local livestock farmers would surely come flocking.

Jiang Miao conducted a thorough inspection of the Mulan Base.